Body composition numbers

Now that we've covered the basics of body composition and recomposition and you know the roles of fat and muscle in the body, we can finally get to some good stuff: bodyfat percentage and what the term actually means.

When you know the amounts of fat and lean mass present in the body, you can calculate overall body composition (lets get a little bit more specific for this chapter and refer to it as bodyfat percentage) which is the percentage of your total weight which is fat. The rest will be lumped into the lean body mass (LBM) category as per two chapters ago.

So let's say I wave my magic wand and find out that you weigh 200 pounds with 20 pounds of bodyfat. Your bodyfat percentage would then be 20 pounds fat / 200 pounds total = 10% bodyfat. That is, 10% of you is bodyfat, the other 90% or 180 pounds is lean body mass (LBM).

Now, if you lost 5 pounds of fat with no change in LBM, you'd have 15 pounds fat / 195 pounds total or 7.7% bodyfat. If you gained 5 pounds of LBM with no change in bodyfat, you'd have 20 pounds fat / 205 pounds total = 9.7% bodyfat. If you somehow managed to gain 5 pounds of LBM while losing 5 pounds of fat, you'd have 15 pounds of fat / 200 lbs weight = 7.5% bodyfat. You can do the calculation for whatever numbers you want to. The appendix has the equations to figure out how much fat you'd have to lose to reach a certain bodyfat percentage assuming you know the starting point. The calculations work the same in the opposite direction too: if you gain fat or lose muscle, or both, your bodyfat percentage goes up.

Do note that losing fat has a much larger impact on bodyfat percentage than gaining the same amount of muscle. That is, losing 5 lbs of fat dropped bodyfat percentage by 2.3%; gaining 5 lbs of muscle only dropped it by 0.3%. So if your goal is to get your actual bodyfat percentage number down, losing fat is the better overall strategy. Actually, losing fat while gaining muscle is teh best overall strategy but since it's so difficult to accomplish under most circumstances, it's not worth considering for the most part.

As I mentioned last chapter, people tend to lose muscle and gain fat as they get older. It's not uncommon to hear people who are 30 comment that they weigh the same as they did in college but none of their clothes fit. Even if their weight is no different, their body composition is heading south: they are losing muscle and gaining fat at the same time. Whether this is related to age per se or just decreasing activity levels is still being debated but it looks like keeping up activity and watching food intake can prevent most of the normal deterioriation associated with age.

So what's a good bodyfat percentage?

This is a question where the answer depends on what you're talking about. Depending on whether your goal is reducing health risks or achieving optimal health, competing in a bodybulding contest, competing in some other sport, just looking good, or what have you, the percentage bodyfat that is 'ideal' varies. So let's look at some different numbers and categories.

For health or at least reducing health risks there is some debate regarding optimal bodyfat percentges. Some groups don't even use bodyfat percentage, preferring thte Body Mass Index (BMI) method, which correlates roughly with health risk, instead. I'll discuss BMI in the next chapter.

As per the last chapter, both too much and too little bodyfat can carry health risks. Some groups still use the archaic concept of 'overweight' and 'underweight' but bodyfat percentage is more indicative which is why I'm spending so much time discussing it. The terms 'overfat' and 'underfat' would be a lot more accurate. A 200 pound athlete at 7% bodyfat isn't at the same risk level as a 200 pound sedentary individual at 25% bodyfat, although they weigh the same amount. Saying that 200 lbs is 'overweight' misses the point.

The current 'average' recommendations for healthy bodyfat are 10-15% for men, and 18-25% for women and these numbers increase slightly as you get older. By comparison, average bodyfat percentages are 11-18% for men and 21-28% for women. By extension, excess bodyfat, far in excess of recommended levels (10-15% for men, 18-25% for women) correlate with increased health risk. However, even if the above values are not attainable (and they frequently aren't), most credible research shows that even small fat/weight losses (10% of your current bodyweight) increases overall health and decreases the risk of such diseases. So don' t let the above numbers depress you, that's not the goal. If you are a female at 35% bodyfat, reducing that to 30% will improve health even if you're still outside of the recommended range.

Research is also showing that individuals who carry extra fat (weight) but are active are healthier than if they are inactive. They may even be healthier than thin individuals who are inactive. That is, assuming one is active, even if they don't lose a lot of fat/weight, they may still be healthy. Focusing solely on body composition, to the exclusion of all else can ignore this fact and it would be remiss of me not to mention it.

At the low end, you run into other sorts of health problems for males in the 4-5% range, females the 10-12% range. To repeat it from last chapter, somewhere between the high end and the low end of bodyfat and weight is probably optimal for health.

Bodybuilders and athletes don't have as much choice and have to work within what is required by their sports whether it is necessarily healthy or not. It's part of the price of playing. For athletes not required to have a certain bodyfat level for aesthetic reasons, performance has to be balanced against bodyfat levels and lower is not always better.

Generally, male contest bodybuilders will be 3-5% bodyfat on the day of the contest. Females may be anywhere from 6-8%. If you're wondering how female bodybuilders achieve bodyfat percentages that are theoretically impossible (based on estimates of essential fat), just accept that it is probably due to problems with the equations more than anything else.

Most bodybuilders don't maintain that level of leanness year round, at least not if they want to gain size or feel particularly energetic . The exception is those genetic rarities who maintain 5% bodyfat year round without effort who appear healthy. They're the ones who can eat freely and maintain a low bodyfat without effort. It's ok to hate those people, by the way. I'd suggest you do so just on principle.

From a health standpoint, females really shouldn't maintain a bodyfat much below 12% year round, for reasons I already mentioned before (hormones, bone loss, etc). Yes, a lot of female athletes do maintain those levels of bodyfat, but it's not healthy in any way shape or form.

By comparison, elite male runners clock in around 6% bodyfat, cyclists around 8-10% and swimmers at 10-12%. Female are, on average, a little bit fatter because of the difference in essential fat. A male at 6% total bodyfat is carrying 3% fat on top of the 3% essential fat, which is equivalent to a woman carrying 15% total bodyfat (3% on top of 12% essential fat). This is part of the reason males outperform females in most sports: less dead fat weight to carry around. More muscle mass, for any given bodyweight, is another part of the reason. To be fair, there is some indication that women are superior in very long distance events, and have more endurance in those types of sports, because they appear to use fat for fuel more effectively.

Speaking of swimmers, now you know why some people think swimmers are 'fat' ; it's because they carry more fat than other elite athletes (a whopping 10-12% compared to 6-8%). Obviously they are still leaner than the majority of people. The fat helps them float and improves performance which is why they maintain a higher level bodyfat. Being leaner would actually make them slower in the water because more energy would go into keeping them on top of the water, instead of moving them forward. Those crazy cold-water swimmers, who do stuff like swim the English channel have to carry more bodyfat to keep themselves warm and prevent hypothermia. They're still nuts, in my opinion, but at least they stay warm.

Those interested in appearance may want to know what levels they need to get to achieve the look that is currently in vogue (i.e. what's presented in the mass media such as the fitness magazines): visible abs for men, lean thighs and a flat tummy for women. While there is some variance, on average a male will have to have a bodyfat percentage below 10% to have visible abdominals (i.e. the much coveted 6-pack) and get rid of their love handles. Unless a woman is genetically blessed, her legs may carry a lot of fat until she hits the 15% range (or so), although she'll usually have abdominals showing at that level.

Some men have more 'female' type bodyfat patterning and have visible abs at high percentage bodyfat levels but fat legs. Post-menopausal females who don't go on hormones may develop a 'male' bodyfat patterning with a lot of fat around their midsection. There are also a lucky few who carry their bodyfat very evenly on their bodies and won't look 'fat' even while carrying quite a high percentage bodyfat. We'll see why these patterns exist in a bit.

Lower isn't better

Although I've mentioned this several times, I really want to drive the point home: don't equate lower bodyfat with better. As described last chapter, once bodfyat gets too low, in both men and women, hormone levels are disrupted. The normal menstrual cycle in women may stop (this is called ammenorrhea), indicating a problem with estrogen production. This tends to cause bone loss which is a very serious problem.

In men not using drugs to maintain their hormone levels, testosterone can approach near-castrate levels as they reach the lower limits of bodyfat. Complaints of zero sex drive (and not being able to get it up even if the drive were there) are common among natural bodybuilders who get extremely lean.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Thyroid, growth hormone, IGF-1, metabolic rate, and the immune system are all severely depressed under situations of extremely low bodyfat (genetic oddities excepted). Cortisol, which is one of the big causes of muscle loss goes through the roof at extremely low bodyfat levels. It's all part of your body's normal adaptation to starvation (remember from an earlier chapter: dieting is just like starvation, just slower) to try and keep you alive. But it sucks from the standpoint of achieving optimal body recomposition.

In case you're wondering, its not uncommon to hear of professional bodybuilders maintaining 4-5% bodyfat year round, while eating everything they want, and still being able to put on muscle. This is possible because they have replaced their normal hormones (which are no longer being produced for the most part) with exogenous drugs. By using testosterone, growth hormone, thyroid, insulin, etc, etc, drug-using bodybuilders have side-stepped normal human physiology.

To your body, all of this makes sense of course. A bodyfat of 5% in a man is likely occuring because there is no food. Your body can't tell the difference between you starving it because you're a crazy bodybuilder or you starving because there's no food available ; it reacts the same way. If there is no food, the last thing your body wants is for you to get your mate pregnant. Either there isn't enough food to keep it alive or you'll be dead before it's born, and unable to fulfill your fatherly duties (watching TV and drinking beer). So testosterone crashes to make it impossible in the first place. If you're starving, chances are so is your mate so that's a double whammy.

A woman with 12% or lower bodyfat wouldn't be able to bring a baby to term safely in the first place, so the body prevents it by shutting down the menstrual cycle. I should note that the reasons for the shutdown are actually more complex and some dieting women will lose their period at higher bodyfat percentages. It's actually more an issue of energy balance than bodyfat per se, but I'll get to that later.

Some women look upon the loss of their period as a benefit, just one less monthly messy (sorry) hassle. But the bone loss and estrogen issue is not a joke, and can (will) cause problems down the road. Studies of female gymnasts and ballerinas are finding low bone densities similar to post-menopausal women. Certainly not the picture of a healthy athlete. And if the bone doesn't develop during puberty, it may never develop at all.

For those truly obsessed with body image, bodyfat percentages of 6-8% for men and 12-15% for women should be safely sustainable year round although it will require nearly fanatical devotion to daily diet and training (or having picked the right parents to start with). Yeah, you can cheat from time to time (it's actually a good idea for a lot of reasons) but for the most part you'll be stuck paying attention to your meals and training to an extreme degree. If you're not geneticallyblessed to be that lean, be prepared to be a little hungry all the time. And to be a total pain in the ass when you go out with friends. It's your choice if you want to do it, but be aware of what you may have in store for you.

To get way ahead of myself, and get back to the topic at hand, I'm going to suggest that those individuals wishing to gain muscle mass (without drugs) while keeping bodyfat under control will be alternating between that low end of bodyfat percentage (6-8% men, 12-15% women) and perhaps 10-12% for men and 18-20% for women.

Which means that, if you're a male or female bodybuilder or bodybuilder wannabe, if you're above those numbers, I'm going to suggest you diet down first, before trying to gain mass. Probably not what you wanted to hear but you'll regret it if you don't listen to me. If you're in this situation, you will be eating to gain both muscle and fat (hopefully more of the former and less of the latter) until you hit the top end bodyfat percentage, then dieting back down while keeping as much of the muscle as possible. Over time, this adds up to quite a bit of actual muscle mass gained. I'll talk numbers later. Oh yeah, if you're one of those lucky individuals who can gain muscle without putting on fat, you don't need this book in the first place.

As a general rule, a natural bodybuilder getting ready for a show shouldn't start any higher than 10% for men, 15% for women. Not if they want to have any chance of coming into the contest in shape without losing a lot of muscle anyway. Again, I'm getting way ahead of myself, this chapter is just a summary to give you some idea of the numbers we're looking at. That summary appears below.

* Assuming fairly standard bodyfat patterning

As a final note about this chapter and the numbers, I want to repeat something I mentioned above: with a few exceptions mainly aimed at bodybuilders and athletes, the numbers I am presenting isn't so much about telling you what you should do as to give you an idea of what the numbers are. If you're a male at 25% bodyfat, you may be happy just getting to 15% and not have the desire or interest to go any lower. Or you may choose to diet down below 8% because you want to see your ab muscles.

As I've said previously, for the most part I'm not writing this book to tell you how to live, I'm just trying to give you the information to get there if you so desire. If you're starting out extremely fat (30% or higher), the numbers above may just depress you because they seem unattainable. They may be, they may not be. Even small losses of fat and weight increase health in most people so focus on what you can achieve, not what you can't. Over a long enough time, you may be able to bring your bodyfat percentage more in line with recommended values.